Need help choosing laptop!

[mercurial]

I'm hoping to get a new laptop for college, with some gaming capabilities. I'm looking for a laptop for a CS major, and am floating around on different ones. My budget currently is ~$1000-$1300USD, and for that price I think I can get a decent amount of laptop. I have been looking at the Acer Aspire V 17 because it has a lot of nice features, and decent amount of bang for the buck I feel. I really prefer the professional look of laptops, as compared to the over-branded MSI or ASUS gaming laptops, to me they don't really look professional. So I was hoping to maybe get some help in deciding what to get? Thanks! 

[Dubesta11]

I'm hoping to get a new laptop for college, with some gaming capabilities. I'm looking for a laptop for a CS major, and am floating around on different ones. My budget currently is ~$1000-$1300USD, and for that price I think I can get a decent amount of laptop. I have been looking at the Acer Aspire V 17 because it has a lot of nice features, and decent amount of bang for the buck I feel. I really prefer the professional look of laptops, as compared to the over-branded MSI or ASUS gaming laptops, to me they don't really look professional. So I was hoping to maybe get some help in deciding what to get? Thanks! 

 

Does it need to be a gaming laptop? Because you might regret buying a large laptop to carry around every day.

[Lord_Karango17]

Be wary about 17" laptops, if you intend to use it for notes and whatnot/ lug it around often, as even if it is fairly thin, it is going to be very cumbersome.

 

I did the same mistake when i got the msi gs70, as even though it is very thin, it does not fit in by gad any better than my old 2 inch thick samsung gaming laptop did...

 

Also getting a manufacturer refurbished/ used laptop will save you a lot of money/ get you more performance.

[Dubesta11]

I made this post a while back, might be interesting to you: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/362337-msi-pe60-prestige/

[Aniallation]

I'm hoping to get a new laptop for college, with some gaming capabilities. I'm looking for a laptop for a CS major, and am floating around on different ones. My budget currently is ~$1000-$1300USD, and for that price I think I can get a decent amount of laptop. I have been looking at the Acer Aspire V 17 because it has a lot of nice features, and decent amount of bang for the buck I feel. I really prefer the professional look of laptops, as compared to the over-branded MSI or ASUS gaming laptops, to me they don't really look professional. So I was hoping to maybe get some help in deciding what to get? Thanks! 

For college don't get a 17" laptop, you're going to regret it when you have to carry it around everywhere.

 

Take a look at decently thinner, lighter, and smaller options with slightly reduced power, like the Lenovo Y40 and Clevo W230SD

[mercurial]

For college don't get a 17" laptop, you're going to regret it when you have to carry it around everywhere.

 

Yeah, that was one of my main concerns, was the size.

[mercurial]

Does it need to be a gaming laptop? Because you might regret buying a large laptop to carry around every day.

Does not have to be a gaming laptop really, I do like the Dell Precision M3800 although it is a bit pricey. I do like the one you showed me, the MSI PE60, defiantly a good option.

[Dubesta11]

Does not have to be a gaming laptop really, I do like the Dell Precision M3800 although it is a bit pricey. I do like the one you showed me, the MSI PE60, defiantly a good option.

 

Oh, I thought you wanted a gaming laptop.

[Aniallation]

Does not have to be a gaming laptop really, I do like the Dell Precision M3800 although it is a bit pricey. I do like the one you showed me, the MSI PE60, defiantly a good option.

IMO the Y40 would be a better option then the PE60 for college, due to it's ULV CPU able to give you much better battery life. If the PE60 can do around 4 hours of "regular" usage, the Y40, especially the new Y40-80 with the Broadwell CPU, should be able to double that under the same usage. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-Y40-59423035-Notebook-Review.124638.0.html